Cream of the crop – Tattersalls October Yearling Sale preview

Every October the best of the best turn up at Tattersalls. Seven graduates of the blue-chip Book 1 section of the October Yearling Sale have won a Group 1 race this season alone. Broaden the parameters and we find the sale’s history has yielded 111 Group 1 winners that have claimed exactly 200 top-flight races between them. Make no mistake, this is the cream of the crop.

But the best in this year’s catalogue might just be a cut above the event’s already high standard. No yearling in the northern hemisphere will be more highly anticipated than Lot 72 from Staffordstown, Ireland. The filly in question possesses the kind of pedigree that, usually, money can’t buy, being a Frankel full-sister to Kirsten Rausing’s homebred Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Alpinista.

Rausing describes herself as a “seasoned vendor who’s been doing this for 50 years plus”, but when asked if she has ever presented anything quite like this at public auction before, she pauses before replying “Has anyone?” It is a fair question to ask.

The most expensive yearling ever sold in Europe changed hands at Book 1 in 2013 when Al Naamah, a Galileo sister to the previous year’s Oaks winner Was, was bought by Al Shaqab Racing for 5,000,000gns. Some industry insiders have suggested that record will come under serious threat when the Frankel filly takes her turn in the famous Park Paddocks ring.

Of course the filly’s price will depend on her physical attributes as well as her impeccable pedigree. Although she is bay, as opposed to her famously grey sister, Rausing says the pair share some clear similarities.

“They are very similar in many ways, although this filly is slightly taller and she will be bigger than Alpinista, who was very small,” she says. “And obviously she’s bay, not grey. But other than that they are very similar. She’s such a well-behaved filly; she’s just like her sister and very laidback and easy to deal with.”

Reflecting on Alpinista’s crowning moment, and what has followed that sixth Group 1 triumph, Rausing says: “It will be hard to better, won’t it? Many people would still call the Arc the most important race in the world. Alpinista has settled into life at the stud very well. She’s always been such a very nice, settled sort of person so she took to the whole thing as a matter of course. She has a very nice filly foal by Dubawi and she’s back in foal to Study Of Man.”

There’s an enormous amount happening in the family and the female members will hopefully be sent to good stallions in the future

It is, Rausing says, the proliferation of female family members that has prompted the decision to sell such an exquisitely bred filly.

“I also have Alpinista’s dam, Alwilda, who in turn has a two-year-old filly by Iffraaj called Alpetta with Sir Mark Prescott,” she continues. “She also has a colt foal full-brother to Alpinista and she’s in foal to Sea The Stars. I also have the stakes-winning Alpenblume, who’s a half-sister to Alpinista by Kendargent, and she’s in foal to Frankel. I’ve got quite a few members of the immediate family and many others of the slightly extended ‘Al’ family, not least Alwilda’s half-sister All At Sea, a stakes winner and dam of Eldar Eldarov. There’s an enormous amount happening in the family and the female members will hopefully be sent to good stallions in the future.”

She adds: “I find that all decisions to sell are difficult, depending on the level of the market you’re at. But the fact that I have the own sister, two half-sisters, the dam, and so on, means that I am well covered with the family. If you look at the yearling filly’s pedigree page, every single name is bred by me, right down to the bottom of the page.”

Rausing is selling 29 yearlings across this year’s European sales, including a Siyouni colt out of Group 1 winner Madame Chiang, who is also being offered at Book 1. Although the sister to Alpinista looks certain to generate her share of hysteria, Rausing is conscious the wider market is unlikely to prove quite so lively.

“We, as an industry, have to temper our expectations because the thoroughbred breeding industry can only reflect the external financial environment of the rest of the world,” she says. “We also have to bear in mind that racing is part of the entertainment industry. Nobody is forced to buy a yearling or forced to have horses in training. Unfortunately, when the socio-economic situation is compromised it is always reflected first in this type of industry, whether it be racing or West End theatre tickets or anything like that.”

However, while that sober assessment may apply to the vast majority of the market, the sister to Alpinista is in a category that, on all known evidence, should be impervious to the usual peaks and troughs in trade. “One would hope she sails above that sort of thing because she’s a rare jewel,” says Rausing. “It just depends on who wants her and who’s likely to bid on her.”

While the sister to Alpinista may possess a standout pedigree, she is far from the only blue-blooded offering within the 448-lot Book 1 catalogue. To illustrate the depth of quality, consider that the catalogue contains siblings to 45 Group 1 winners, while 20 mares who won at the highest level also have progeny entered. The sire profile is of a similarly elite standard, with 21 lots by Dubawi, 25 by Frankel, 26 by Kingman, ten by Siyouni and 23 by Wootton Bassett, to highlight but a few of the blue-chip stallions represented.

It’s wonderful to have a yearling of this calibre catalogued in Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale

“The sister to Alpinista is, without doubt, an outstanding filly by one’s standards,” says Tattersalls’ marketing director Jimmy George. “It’s wonderful to have a yearling of this calibre catalogued in Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale. But if any yearling sale in the world is appropriate for a pedigree of this standard, it’s Book 1.

“There’s no doubt that this filly is the icing on the cake of what is already Europe’s premier yearling sale in terms of the quality of the catalogue, and in terms of the performance of sale graduates on racecourses throughout the world.”

Book 1 graduates have enjoyed another stellar year on the track, with the likes of Al Riffa winning the Grosser Preis von Berlin, Luxembourg landing the Coronation Cup and You Got to Me claiming the Irish Oaks. Although Classic pedigrees abound in the Book 1 catalogue, it has also proved a fine source of two-year-old talent, particularly in 2024. No other European yearling sale has produced a Group 1-winning juvenile this season, but Book 1 was the source of Prix Morny victor Whistlejacket and National Stakes scorer Scorthy Champ.

Among the pedigrees in this year’s catalogue that suggest further Group 1 glory could be in the offering are the Dubawi half-sister to Uni (25) from Glenvale Stud; the Frankel colt out of Urban Fox (28) from Baroda; a Kingman half-sister to Barney Roy (67) from Hazelwood, while the same sire is responsible for Meon Valley’s filly out of Anapurna (75); Norelands offers a Siyouni filly whose siblings include Magna Grecia and St Mark’s Basilica (107); Grangemore presents the Dark Angel sister to Charyn (183), one lot before Watership Down offers a Frankel brother to Hurricane Lane (184); there is a Palace Pier half-brother to Cracksman from Hascombe & Valiant (373); a Mehmas half-brother to Perfect Power from Tally-Ho (389); and a Siyouni half-sister to Ylang Ylang from Newsells Park (407). And these are just the tip of the iceberg.

It’s a catalogue that sparked a lot of interest

There are also a host of Group 1-winning mares with their first foals up for grabs, with Glass Slippers, Lady Bowthorpe, Loving Dream and Snow Lantern all due to be represented by Dubawi colts, while Wonderful Tonight’s first offspring is a filly by Frankel. Understandably the heavyweight nature of the pedigrees on offer has attracted attention from far and wide.

“Book 1 is always a sale that attracts an enormous amount of overseas interest for the obvious reason that graduates of the sale are winning at the highest level in every continent of the world,” says George. “From the moment it came out, it’s a catalogue that sparked a lot of interest.”

Trade at last year’s renewal cooled slightly from the giddy highs of 2022, but the sale still turned over 95,395,000gns at an average price of 243,975gns. Few buyers have taken up as central a position in the market over the last five years as US-based agent Mike Ryan, who, in recruiting primarily for the Chad Brown stable, has been in the top ten purchasers each year since 2019.

Ryan’s exploits have helped Book 1 gain greater traction in the US having sourced Grade 1 winners such as Digital Age, Domestic Spending, In Italian, McKulick, Newspaperofrecord and Program Trading. It is hoped these results, as well as some help from the Tattersalls team, will encourage more American buyers to attend Park Paddocks this time around.

“The sale has outperformed any other European yearling sale in North America for a number of years,” says George. “The catalogue has been very well received in North America and we’ve worked very hard over the course of this year with multiple visits.

“We’ve had a lot of interest from North America, as well as from further afield from the Gulf region, Japan, Hong Kong and also Australia. We’re hoping for a very international renewal, but equally all sales at Tattersalls rely heavily on domestic British and Irish and wider European demand as well. That’s key to the success of any sale here.”

 

Dubawi colt headlines Daylesford’s draft

Eagle-eyed observers will have noticed a fresh addition to the vendors’ index in the Book 2 catalogue, albeit a name with a familiar ring to it. Lady Bamford’s Daylesford Stud has not sold its own yearlings at Tattersalls since 2014, but returns this year with a draft high on quality. The five colts all catch the eye on pedigree, none more so than the only Dubawi among the 773 lots in the Book 2 catalogue.

“We’ve been selling colts through The Castlebridge Consignment for a few years now but this year we thought we’d go back to our owner-breeder roots, sell all the colts and keep the fillies and do it under our own banner,” says stud manager Chris Lock.

“Lady Bamford and Alice are very keen for the stud to consign our own horses, and when they mentioned it in the spring we were delighted to be given the opportunity. We’re proud of what we’re breeding here so we thought we’d showcase the type of horses Daylesford can produce. We’ve produced a lot of nice horses over the years and it’s nice for people to have the opportunities to buy into these families.”

Lock says that it has been business as usual in terms of prepping the yearlings, but notes the move to sell under their own banner has given the staff an extra spring in their step.

“We’ve prepped the horses the same way we would usually, but there’s definitely more excitement on the stud,” he says. “The team are really looking forward to being part of the sale. Everyone’s proud of the horses we’re bringing to Tattersalls and they put so much into them during prep that it’s nice for them to see it through to the finishing line. They’re rightly proud of the work they’ve put in as the horses all look really well. We really want to hit the ground running and show people that we’re serious about the colts we’re bringing to market, so we’re excited to get to Tatts now.”

He is the jewel in the crown of our consignment

Not only is Lot 1,205 the only Dubawi in Book 2, the colt is out of Lady Bamford’s homebred Prix de Diane heroine Star of Seville (right). This pedigree makes the youngster a full-sibling to two winners, most notably the progressive 97-rated three-year-old Lord Of Love.

“We feel like the Dubawi is the jewel in the crown of our consignment,” says Lock. “He’s a very strong horse, he’s got great power, a great hind leg and a very nice walk. Obviously he’s out of a Group 1 winner, so he’s got the pedigree behind him too. He’s an exciting horse and we felt it made more of a statement bringing him to Book 2. He could’ve easily gone into Book 1, Tatts would have taken him, but we’ve made the decision to focus on the Daylesford name this year and we thought he’d help bring attention to the draft.”

Lot 976 is a New Bay colt out of Mumbai, a daughter of Frankel from a Classic-winning family, while Lot 1,216 is a son of Wootton Bassett and the Group 3-winning Suphala, who is also by Frankel. Both sires have enjoyed a productive season, particularly Wootton Bassett, whose first crop conceived at Coolmore already contains eight stakes-winning juveniles, more than any other stallion in Europe.

“The Wootton Bassett is such a powerful horse with a great walk,” says Lock. “Every weekend the stallion is having two or three stakes-winning two-year-olds. It’s fantastic and he’s doing it all for us. We also have a very nice New Bay colt out of Mumbai. She’s from Billesdon Brook’s family, so he’s another well-bred colt. He’s a big, strong horse with good legs and, again, New Bay is having lots of nice two-year-old winners.”

The draft is completed by two sons of exciting first-crop sire St Mark’s Basilica. Lock is effusive in his praise for the young Coolmore stallion. “I love them,” he says. “We’ve got four yearlings by St Mark’s Basilica on the stud and we’re thrilled with all of them. We’ve sent mares to him on the strength of these and we’ll use him next year too, and in the years to come. They’re seriously nice animals. They’ve got very good attitudes and are great movers.”

Lot 728 is out of Excellent View, making the youngster a half-brother to the Listed-winning Mutaraffa, while Lot 1,182 is from “a proper Daylesford pedigree” being out of Snow Moon, a Listed-placed daughter of Anglo-Irish Oaks winner Sariska.

Lady Bamford’s breeding operation is also represented in Book 1 by a Frankel colt out of Listed winner Queen Of Love, who is consigned by Watership Down Stud as Lot 361. Daylesford also offers three lots in Book 3, including a colt by Sea The Moon who is the final foal out of Cheveley Park Stakes winner Magical Romance (1,417) (left).

The four Books of last year’s October Yearling Sale saw a massive 2,111 entries across nine individual sessions. There has been an 11 per cent reduction across the four Books this year, with entries capped at 1,873. There are 448 lots in Book 1 (down 84 lots, 16 per cent less), 773 in Book 2 (down 47 lots, six per cent less), Book 3 has 571 entered (down 78 lots, 12 per cent less) and Book 4 has 81 (down 110 lots, 26 per cent less).

This decision has been taken to make for a smoother process for buyers and sellers alike, George says.

“The two weeks of the October Yearling Sale is a format and formula that’s been tried and tested and worked unbelievably well for basically the whole of the 21st century,” he says. “Having said that, certainly in recent years we’ve been conscious that, particularly in Books 2 to 4, the numbers have made that week hard on the participants, both vendors and purchasers.

“We felt going into this year that it would be sensible to try and curb the numbers to a certain extent in that second week of the October Yearling Sale. We’ve done that and we very much hope it achieves its aim of making it a more user-friendly environment for all participants.”

The Tattersalls October Yearling Sale begins on October 8th and runs through until the 18th.